Revenue Suggestion plus Mockup

[rossP]

I made a post in the revenue suggestion thread and was told that I should make my own thread to get more attention. So here's my post on revenue ideas, as well as I quick mockup I did of how the game lobby could be re-designed to facilitate some of these.

-----------

I found out about the game through the Wired article (actually I found out about it in the morning meeting) and I've been playing since. I've only bought the feedback team (sorry, cute team isn't my thing). I play a lot, but I don't think I've come near the 35 game limit. I am looking forward to the addition of new bases (might purchase) and the new veggie team (will purchase).

Here's what I would do.

Change the icon. It kind of sucks. You have lots of great art already - use it. The current icon doesn't really fit the game.

Don't change the game as it is; don't change it to paid. Don't spin off leagues as paid. In other words, don't take away existing content from your current player base. It won't go well. You have to add content. If you change how certain things work (game limits, for example), you need to grandfather your existing players in. Don't take away. Fill in the gaps that are missing instead.

Offline mode. Sometimes people are unresponsive. Sometimes I just want to practice against a computer. Offline mode also gives you a whole new area to sell stuff fo, such as campaigns, AI types, or even just things you couldn't do in multiplayer because of balance issues (such as stronger bases, special units, etc).

Additional Game Modes. See above, and other suggestions around here. Keep random and league games as is, but add new game modes in the store. Speed runs, etc.

Game Slots. Right now it goes 5 > 20 > 35. You should think about having it be incremental. Ie, instead of jumping from 5 - 20 after a purchase, and then jumping to 35. You should consider just having a 'Add 5 Game Slots' item in the store that just adds 5 more slots to however many you've purchased. 5 > 10 > 15 > 20 > 25 > 30 > 35. Get rid of the instant 20 game slots for a purchase (grandfather it in of course, maybe include the 35 limit in the Uber Pack).

Aesthetics. It works for Team Fortress 2, you just need to find your hat equivalent. Allow people to buy additional colors to play as, allow them to buy additional bases, allow them to reskin their teams. None of these things would affect gameplay. You can sell additional colors for .99, additional bases for .99, different skins for .99, etc etc. By skins I just mean adding texture options for existing teams. An undead look, an alternate look, an 8-bit look, lots of options there. Add avatars and then sell avatar packs. Right now the cheapest store item is 2.99, these cheap (and cheap to produce) packs fill that gap. I'm sure you can whip up additional color / avatar packs in no time at all compared to building new teams / maps / bases. All the art is already there. Just sell it!

Uber Pack could be all teams / maps / game limits.
Aesthetics Pack could be all skins / avatars / bases / colors.

Donate button / Flags. Free to play games survive not on having a lot of people giving small amounts of money, but by having a monied elite spending way more than any sane person would that subsidizes the rest. You need to be able to survive off of the 2% of people who actually buy stuff, and the 1% that actually will buy everything they can. Give those people an incentive to donate by giving them flags on their bases that correspond to money spent in the store or via donations. Alternatively, you implement a badge system of some kind, but I think flags would work best.

1 flag - you've bought something in the store.
2 flags - you've bought everything in the store.
3 flags - you've spent xx amount of money.
4 flags - you've spent xxx amount of money.

There might only be a few people getting up to 3 / 4 flags, but they help subsidize the rest of your playerbase.

League: Make it easier for people to see where they stand out of all users. Make it easier to see how to move up, when it could happen, how much work you have to do. If people are unresponsive, say about a couple days, have it be an automatic forfeit.

------


TLDR:
Make an offline mode.
Change Icon.
Sell avatars, colors, base types, skins, whatever you possibly can that doesn't affect gameplay.
Sell offline only items (extra wit, stronger bases, hard mode, etc) that only affect the offline game.
Continue to sell teams, incrementalize game limit increases, consider selling maps.
Have a donate system with flags / badges for people who want to spend more.
Edit: Make the league system less opaque. I want to see where I stand among all users, how much work I have to do to get promoted, when that might happen, etc.

Do not take away existing features. Do not spin off features as paid items. Don't forget about your users!

Spin this as Outwitters 2.0, and you'd get publicity. If you guys can turn this thing around, it's the kind of thing that can make a good story, and that'll mean more publicity.

The Mockup on imgur: http://imgur.com/z6o2q